Clear told The Huffington Post Australia he knew something was amiss when he felt a burning sensation.

"It was just a small fall but then I felt this extreme pain," Clear told HuffPost Australia.

"I looked down and there was this black discharge all over my leg that had this phosphorus chemical smell. It was the exploded battery oozing out."

Supplied / Gareth Clear
The burn caused by Clear's iPhone.

In hospital, he was told he would need a skin graft and surgery.

"It's ironic because after three hours of sedatives and surgery, I woke up and the first thing I looked for was my phone. The thing that put me here in the first place was the thing I was searching for."

Gareth Clear
Clear's skin graft to repair the burn created by his iPhone.

He said Apple was in contact after he wrote on social media warning others of his experience.

"I think Apple is a great company and I use their products every day but I felt like I was at work dealing with a service desk issue," Clear said.

"I was in the hospital and they were asking me for my credit card details like was an untrustworthy customer."

Clear said he needed to be hooked up to a machine for the next week and his wound was expected to heal within three weeks.

Gareth Clear / Supplied
Clear hooked up to a machine to assist healing.

"You realise how invasive these devices are. What do you do when you're bored? You pick up your phone. What do you do when you wake up? You check your phone.

"This is a complex piece of technology that we think is safe and we give to a two-year-old. It's not a wooden train. I want to see a thorough investigation into how this happened."